


gift exchange

by confessa



Series: The Poe/Rey Holiday Collections [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Finn/Rey friendship, Fluff, sorta fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 14:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5589409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confessa/pseuds/confessa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe Dameron explains the concept of Christmas to Rey. Now they need to do a gift exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	gift exchange

**Author's Note:**

> So instead of finishing a fic I had already started on, Christmas fever caught up later to me and I wrote this instead. It's about as fluffy as my usual angst-filled writing can handle. I am going to make this part of a Holiday Poe/Rey series, and hopefully I can have a holiday-themed fic for major holidays. 
> 
> This is not beta-read, so all mistakes are my own.

* * *

 

 

“Christ...mas?” Rey repeated after him unsurely.

 

Poe nodded encouragingly. “It’s this ancient celebration that people used to celebrate in the past, as part of a long-lost religion or tradition.”

 

Poe and Rey were in one of the lounges at the Rebellion base. The room was simply decorated with a pantry, a few tables and a set of sofas in one corner, two of which they are seated comfortably in.

 

“So on the eve of this day, people put presents either under these trees or in their socks -”

 

“Socks??” Rey burst out laughing. “You’re pulling my leg now!”

 

Poe frowned, thinking how weird the fact sounded to him as well. “No, I’m not. But yes, socks does sound weird...maybe I am remembering the story wrongly.” He thought for a few seconds back to the old lady who had told this story to him a few years back, before shrugging gaily. “Oh well, never mind that part. The important thing is that people surprise each other with presents on the day!”

 

Rey still looked disbelieving. Still, she had grown up isolated on a desert planet Jakku, and thus had had very little interaction with people from other worlds. Poe on the other hand - she surveyed his handsome face, which had an easy, boyish smile but worldly, experienced eyes - had been to so many parts of the Galaxy. He was bound to know more than she did of traditions in different cultures. 

 

“Okay.” She finally conceded. “So let’s say this...Christmas-” The word still sounded strange on her tongue. “-does exist. So what?”

 

Poe looked triumphant at having convinced her. “Well, we’re going to do a gift exchange!”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

 

“And so that is why I have to find Poe Dameron a present!!” Rey related frantically to a very amused Finn.

 

Finn guffawed. “Rey, I think he’s just trying to get a present out of you.”

 

Rey looked distressed. “That doesn’t help me, Finn. It doesn’t change the fact that I agreed to the gift exchange, and I have to get him a present because he’s going to get me one and it wouldn’t be nice not to get him one, _and_ that I have absolutely no idea what Poe likes!”

The words came out in a frustrated rush, and Finn held up both hands placatingly. “Woah, okay chill. It’s going to be fine. It's just Poe." This did not seem to relieve Rey, in fact, her face looked even more troubled. Finn quickly continued on. "Okay...why don’t you-” He racked his brains for something to say, and snapped his fingers a few seconds later, an idea coming to him. “Okay why don’t you just ask him what he likes?”

 

“Because then it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore!” 

 

Clearly the wrong thing to say.

 

Rey gave up. Finn was no help and she had already spent days trying to think of a good present to get Poe. She turned on her heels and was about to walk out of the room when Finn grabbed her arm.

 

“Wait, stop.” Finn smiled nefariously. “I know what you can get him.”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

 

So Poe’s present lay wrapped on the table in front of the sofa. Finn had not immediately come up with this, of course. He had gone through a retinue of terrible ideas before Rey picked one that seemed slightly less terrible than the others.

 

Rey stared at the present nervously. It had been wrapped in plain brown paper, which she had scavenged from the office junk room - well, she assumed people would not need some of the papers carelessly thrown in there. It looked too plain, too mundane. She quickly looked around the lounge for a marker, and her eyes landing on a pen left on one of the tables. She practically dove for it. Poe was bound to reach any time soon.

 

Uncapping the pen, Rey bit her lip as she thought of what to write. She heard footsteps out in the corridor and Poe’s smooth, rich voice talking to someone. Her heartbeat rose - it was practically pounding in her ears, gosh _what was wrong with her_ \- and she quickly scribbled on the paper, capped the pen, and threw it over the sofa before Poe walked into the room. She tried to act casual.

 

His head was turned away from her as he waved goodbye to whoever it was he had been talking to. He was holding a rather bulky present under one arm, and it was wrapped...colourfully.

 

Rey studied the weird patterns on the paper. It was striped red and white, and there were figurines painted all over it. A brown animal of some sort with antlers and a shining red nose, boxed presents wrapped in colourful stripes and polka dots, and some weirdly shaped cartoon-ish trees decorated with balls and stars.

 

Poe saw her staring warily at the present, and grinned. “This is a special Christmas wrapping paper that I got from the old lady who first told me the story.”

 

Rey looked unhappily at her own present with the ugly brown paper and the scribbled words on it, and flushed deeply. “Um, I only got you this…”

 

Poe’s eyes lit up at the sight of his present and his strides quickened. “Oh! I can’t wait!” 

 

His bright expression and eager tone lifted Rey’s spirits a little. She gulped and said sheepishly, “Sorry for the paper though.”

 

Poe hardly seemed to hear her. “Ah, you’re lucky to even find paper this decent at the base. Bet you had to rummage through the office supplies room right?”

 

Rey grinned a little. “Yeah, that place is a disaster.”

 

Poe laughed and set his present on the table too, sitting down on the sofa beside her. This was the first time they had sat so closely - he had always seating himself perpendicularly to her on another sofa - and her face flushed again. Luckily, Poe was eagerly turning over his present in his hands and didn’t seem to notice.

 

In fact, he seemed to be holding back a laugh. Rey’s eyes narrowed. “What?” She asked suspiciously. What was funny about her present? She had enough to be embarrassed about. 

 

Poe seemed to be debating whether he should explain, then finally he couldn’t resist and burst out laughing.

 

“ _What??_ ” Rey asked again, a smile crossing her own lips despite her annoyance. His laughter was infectious. “What did I do?”

 

Poe finally stopped and pointed at her scribbled greeting. “I’m sorry I should have told you how it’s spelled, so it’s really my fault. It’s actually spelled C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S.”

 

Rey would have been deadly embarrassed again but even she had to laugh at her own mistake. In big, capital letters, she had scrawled on top of his present: “MERRY KRISSMUSS”.

 

“Oh whatever. I didn’t know.” she finally said after she finished laughing. She looked between the two presents, and her nerves seemed to have settled a little. Her present couldn’t be that bad, even if Finn _had_ suggested it, and Finn’s suggestions were...suspect. Still, Poe seemed so excited, what if his expectations were dashed? What if he was expecting a great present and what she had gotten was just so normal? What if-

 

“Okay so who goes first?” Poe asked.  

 

Rey hadn’t been expecting his question. Her stomach was in knots again. She was dying to open her own present, but what if after she discovered what must be an amazing gift that he got her, Poe would open his present and be disappointed to get the gift that Finn had suggested, which she thought was great at the time but now was definitely, _definitely_ a bad idea and why did she even listen to Finn -

 

Poe cleared his throat a little, and Rey realised she had been sitting there stone-cold, face frozen.

 

“How about I go first?” He suggested kindly, thankfully taking the weight off of Rey’s shoulders. She agreed quickly.

 

Poe’s eyes practically sparkled as he began ripping open the present. Once the brown wrapping paper came off, Poe unfurled the material underneath. It was a jacket. Smooth, brown leather that was soft to the touch and smelled rich and earthy. Poe held it almost gently in his hands, turning it over, looking at every part carefully and appraisingly.

 

Rey leaned forward to see his expression better. “That look means you like it right?”

 

“Of course!” Poe turned towards her, looking very touched. “I love it, Rey.”

 

Her heart lifted at his words and suddenly it seemed that she could finally, finally breathe. “OH thank goodness! I was really agonising over what you would like, and Finn and I racked our brains to come up with something. Okay well, I racked my brains and Finn came up with this suggestion and you know Finn’s suggestions are sometimes wack.”

 

Poe raised his eyebrows, looking amused. “Finn helped you with this present?”

 

Rey stopped short in her rambling. _I have to stop doing that._ “Was that wrong? Was I not supposed to?”

 

“No, no, not that. It’s just...Finn helped me get a present for you too.”

 

“Oh.” Rey looked at the gift on the table. She suddenly felt ashamed at her complaints about Finn.

 

“Finn’s a good friend.” Poe said, but as a comment and not an admonishment. Rey made a mental note to treat Finn extra nicely for the next few weeks. Poe handed Rey his own gift for her. It was a box, definitely, so the present couldn’t be guessed from the outside. “How did you get the jacket?”

 

Rey explained while she began opening her own present. “I asked one of the pilots who was making a quick recon trip out to help me get it. Finn and I figured, we basically stole your jacket, and I am pretty sure I tore it in one place. So I should get you a new one.”

 

Rey felt loathe to rip the strange, novel wrapping paper, and instead tried to open it at the lines he had folded the paper along, peeling off the tape carefully and meticulously.

 

Poe really had the patience of an angel. He said nothing at her actions, instead seeming to understand what a new experience this was for her. He sat patiently by her side, leaning back against the sofa, and Rey became conscious of his proximity again. Her breath quickened slightly, and it took some force - Rey even thought she might be calling upon the Force - to focus on the unwrapping and not his arm just touching her own shoulder...

 

Finally, the box lay naked. Rey’s heart was beating quickly, for more than one reason, and she lifted the cover off with trembling, excited hands.

 

Inside was a rebel helmet.

 

Rey’s breath caught. Memories of her childhood on Jakku came flooding back to her. Her AT-AT, those endless red evenings eating the little food she may have earned that day, her rebel helmet which she would wear on every one of those evenings and pretend that a plane was going to swoop down from the sky and carry her off home. Or that she would leap into a plane herself - Rey the Ace Pilot, leading the Rebellion forth.

 

She had not realised that tears had come to her eyes. Poe was leaning close to her, looking concerned. “Okay, now I don’t know whether that means you like the present or not.”

 

Rey managed a small laugh. “Poe, I love it.” She held the helmet in her hands, her thumb rubbing over it’s smooth surface. “I had one, you know, on Jakku. Except it was old and partly-wrecked already.”

 

Poe nodded. “Finn told me you mentioned it once to him. How you wanted to be a Rebel pilot.”

 

Rey wiped a tear away, which was coming dangerously close to falling, and she couldn't cry in front of Poe. “Yes, I love flying. That rush, and feeling that you are escaping away from everything.” She knew Poe would understand her bad description of the thrill of flying. Poe Dameron, the Ace Pilot, who had led the Rebellion forth.

 

Their faces were so close, what with him leaning forward and her head turned towards him. She could see the lines on his face clearly from here, and his dark eyelashes and even darker eyes, the wisp of his fringe just falling down on one side. She could have moved her head only a few inches to close the gap between them.

 

That thought suddenly brought her back to reality, and she quickly jerked back, her face turning bright red. An image of her as the red-nosed animal on the wrapping paper popped into her head, making her blush even harder.

 

“Well, yes, thank you, Poe.” She said breathlessly, forcefully driving all thoughts from her head. “I love the helmet!”

 

Poe’s cheeks were slightly flushed too, but he was more composed than her. “Yeah, yeah you’re welcome.”

 

The two busied themselves up with clearing the table, both trying to ignore what had just passed between them. They didn’t even know each other that well, only having spent a few weeks together at the base.

 

However, Rey found the silence even more awkward and she thought furiously of something to say. Unfortunately, it seemed her brain hated her. She finally found her safe topic. “I have to thank Finn. I criticised his ideas in my head so much yet they turned out great.”

 

“Yeah, I need to thank him too." Poe seemed just as eager to kill the silence and probably his own thoughts. "Poor guy, I should get him a present.”

 

Rey stopped what she was doing, his words reminding her of a question that had been bugging her for the past week, ever since he told her about Christmas. It made her momentarily forget what had happened. “Poe, why _did_ you suggest this gift exchange?”

 

Poe paused too, seeming to consider the question for the first time. “I guess...you seemed really stressed with everything going on, I thought you might need a distraction.” He shrugged, as if he was not sure of his own answer. 

 

Rey grinned. “Finn said you just wanted a present.”

 

Poe's expression turned mischievous. “Well, that too.”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

 

The two left the lounge a little while later. As they were heading in different directions, they paused at the exit to say their goodbyes, their awkward encounter now pushed firmly to the back of their heads, to be hidden and locked away for as long as possible.

 

Poe held up his jacket as a form of thanks. “Merry Christmas, Rey.”

 

Rey in turn put on her helmet playfully, drawing a snort from Poe. “Merry Christmas, Poe.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> As a side-note, is there coffee in the SW universe? I wasn't sure whether I could say "coffee-table" hahaha


End file.
